More than 800 residents of the Siberian town of Achinsk have asked for monetary compensation after two explosions at an arms depot killed one person and injured dozens more, causing as many as 16,000 residents to evacuate, TASS news agency reported.
The local administration in Achinsk district said that 58 people have been given 550,000 rubles ($8,400) of “material assistance” for damaged property.
The two explosions in the Krasnoyarsk regional town occurred on August 9. A “regional-level emergency” was declared after the new incident.
The Central Military District's press office said "the explosion was caused by a lightning strike."
It said the lightning had hit "an ammunition stack with damaged lightning protection. A shell caught fire and blew up."
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Explosions Erupt From Military Arms Depot In Siberia
The latest reports said nine people had been injured -- including two policemen, a serviceman, and five civilians -- and four required hospitalization.
Video and still images shared on social media showed first responders and residents scurrying with a huge fireball and plumes of smoke rising into the sky behind them near Achinsk, in eastern Siberia's Krasnoyarsk region.
The Investigative Committee was carrying out a probe into possible violations at the same site during the handling of weapons in connection with the previous, August 5 explosions, which prompted a state of emergency in the surrounding region.
There had been plans to shut down the depot, according to a deputy defense minister who visited the region after those blasts.